Weekend in Jakarta

Been a long weekend for me but not in a bad way but in a good way.  If we consider that the weekend starts on the Friday night then it has been a long weekend, which naturally consists of working and then play. I work most Saturday mornings due to the nature of my job and I am more than happy with that. Back in England when I was working, I used to have to work all weekend from early Saturday until late and then the same again on the Sunday, so working in Education out here means none of that nonsense and that is fine for me, also because I am 'trained' to work on the weekends I don't mind. I also actually like working Saturday mornings as it allows me time to plan for the week ahead and ensure everything is finished off.

So after a productive morning at work, I get back home and then out we go to find a new Motorcycle helmet as mine is cracked and worn out. 

There are a fair few types of Helmet in Jakarta from the cheap to the silly price and from plastic hats to the full on road safe.

Being western and big finding a new helmet here is a challenge that's for sure. The last one I purchased was in a hurry as I had the one previous stolen so I had to get one very quickly. That was back in 2010, so it has lasted a long time and been dropped enough to warrant a replacement.

Yovita and I set out on the bike to a helmet store to choose a new one. The store was not far from the house so it was a quick trip and it has an impressive range of helmets both full face and half from small to extra large. Clearly I need an XL helmet so after trying on a few it was decided I needed an XXL helmet if I was to get a new one. The trouble with the sizes here is that they are for Indonesian heads not western heads so not one fitted.

The range was from GM, KYT, MAZ, MDS, INK and BMC. My helmet is NHK and they did not sell that brand, so its off to Citraland this weekend to see if I can find one there.

A real store selling helmets and giving useful advice

Side of the road trade, real helmets most likely, price can be bargained

So after that little trip out, it was time to get ready to attend the annual EF SWARA teachers quiz night which is held every year at Eastern Promise but this year it was held in De Burse which is a great but quiet little bar near Pacific Place under the Equity Tower.

My role it was revealed was to mark the answer sheets while a fellow DoS recorded the scores, another read out the questions and the organiser sort out the Powerpoint for it all. 

It was a good night as, well they always are with much drinking and shouting and lots of happy and chilled out teachers enjoying time together.

De Burse is a nice place to sit and drink for an evening or afternoon and it was nice to be able to sit and chat and drink before and after the quiz. Yovita came with me but disappeared into Pacific place with some girlfriends for gossip and no doubt coffee.

De Burse is owed by the same people as Eastern Promise so you can be assured it is a good place to go. For more information go to EP website or this one: 

 http://www.jakarta100bars.com/2011/06/cafe-de-burse-jakarta.html

So this morning was spent healing a hangover, which was done rather quickly by eating chicken nuggets and chips for breakfast (there was literally nothing else in fridge) and then going out to the Epicentrum cinema to watch the Hobbit.

Its long and the first of 3 movies but worth seeing.

The Hobbit was good and whilst tells the story of how Bilbo Baggins gets the ring and has his adventures, it is not as intense or serious as the LOTR films. We watched it in 2d as the cinema at Epicentrum was not showing the 3d version. However with some 5 year behind me kicking my chair for the first 30 minutes (he soon stopped when I turned around and spoke to him and his mother) it felt more like 4d! However it was a good 3 hours spent and I look forward to the next one. 

For more information about movies in the city click on this http://www.21cineplex.com/nowplaying. You should know that whilst Cinema 21 is a chain the movie theatres all charge different amounts. For example, Epicentrum charge 35,000 a ticket on a Sunday where as Pejaten charge 50,000.